A variety of mechanisms exist for the implantation or injection of devices or medications within a living body. Items such as medicinal pellets or rods, contraceptive capsules, and sensors or identification transponders may be implanted at a target location within a human or other body. The associated procedures often employ multiple tools and/or specialized tools.
Known tools provide means for delivering an implant to a position determined by a surgeon or tool user as the correct location. Other tools are designed to deliver an implant to a position that is, in part, determined by the tool itself. For instance, mechanisms exist that control the angle of insertion or control the depth of insertion, and/or place the implant relative to the surface of the skin. With these tools, the site of tool insertion may still be determined by a surgeon, which may directly impact the final location of the implant. Still other procedures require a surgeon to determine the correct implant site using a first set of tools (which may or may not be invasive), and then to switch to the insertion tools required to deliver the implant. Unfortunately, the implant site determined by the first set of tools may not easily be located with the implant insertion tools.
Some implants, by their nature, do not require an exact location. For instance, a transponder that is injected into an animal may provide the intended tracking function, whether it is located under the skin of the ear, the neck, or the head. Other implants may require a higher degree of precision. This is the case for contraceptive rods that are implanted a specific distance from the surface of the skin, to facilitate later removal. Yet other implants require very precise placement in order to satisfy the intended function, such as devices using electrodes to stimulate specific nerves. If an electrode is not positioned close enough to stimulate the targeted nerve, additional surgery may be required.
While mechanisms exist for inserting or injecting implants in an approximate location (e.g., at a certain angle or depth), and other mechanisms exist for determining a target location for an implant, a need remains for a single, easy to use tool that is first used to determine or confirm the desired implant site and then reliably delivers the implant to that site. While procedures requiring very precise implant positioning will most benefit from such a tool, inserting implants requiring less precision will still find such a tool an improvement over the prior art mechanisms.
In addition, the implantation of microminiature stimulators (also referred to as BION® microstimulators) heretofore would have required the use of multiple surgical instruments and/or instruments not ideally suited for the insertion of such a device. Therefore, a need also exists for a tool that locates and/or confirms the proper implant site for a BION stimulator, and then inserts the BION stimulator at that location.
As is ideal for any surgical tool, a tool that provides the above benefits should also be easy and evident to use, so that surgical time and possibility of error are both decreased. Also, the tool should limit the number and size of incisions required, to reduce the likelihood of infection, loss of blood, post-surgical pain, etc. The tool is preferably compact, light-weight and ergonomic, and constructed of materials that may be sterilized by standard methods known in the art (e.g., autoclave sterilization).